Delhi launches 'Project Smile' for children with learning disabilities

After the "Every Child can Read" campaign, the Delhi government on Sunday announced it has decided to provide special assistance to children with learning disabilities through "Project Smile".

"The government has identified 35,000 such children who will be tested for learning disabilities and thereafter would be provided appropriate learning support," said a government statement.

The Delhi government had launched "Every Child can Read" campaign on Teachers' Day (September 5) this year which lasted till Children's Day (November 14).

According to the results of the campaign made public on Friday, around 5 per cent children could not go beyond identifying alphabets.

"These children will have to take screening tests by Special Education Teachers and Counsellors to identify if any of them have learning disabilities," the statement said.

"Based on the results of the screening tests, the Special Education Teachers and Counsellors will be allotted groups of children for specialised support based on their specific learning disability," it added.

Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia said with special attention, these children will achieve success in school and in life.

"When we launched 'Every Child Can Read campaign', the government was serious about reaching every child in our schools. Project Smile will ensure that no child will be left behind as a result of their learning disability," he said.

According to the government, additional one lakh students learned to read "advance stories" (having an excerpt of about 100 words from the text book of Class 6) during the reading campaign.

--IANS

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